Oil stove wick



May 15, 1945. R. G. QUINN 2,376,083

GIL sTovE WICK Filed Oct. 5, 1943 TJ. -Q

/ /4 /Z lNvENToR Patented May 15, 1945 OIL STOVE WICK Robert G. Quinn,Bound Brook, N. J., assigner to Johns-Manville Corporation, New York, N.Y., a corporation of New York n Applicationoctober 5, 1943, Serial No.505,012

, invention is based on .the discovery that a core 7 Claims.

This invention relates to wicks for oil stoves, and particularly tonon-combustible asbestos fiber wicks suitable for use in the annularwick holders of blue flame oil stoves.

,The eiiiciency of an oil stovewick is determined by the rate at whichheat is developed by a flame supplied with liquid fuel by said wick, andby the length of time that said wick will stand up under full flameoperation Without substantial carbonizing and disintegration such aswould seriously reduce its efficiency. The most efficient oil stovewicks now available are fabric wicks of woven asbestos or glass fibers.Another type of oil stove wick which isv of common use consists ofseveral plies of conventional chrysotile asbestos paper. While a wick ofthis kind is less expensive, it is no more economical since it has amuch shorter operating life and a lower operating efficiencyincomparison with a woven asbestos fabric wick. Conventional multi-plyasbestos paper wicks are also deficient in capillarity to such an extentthatA the time required to feeda unit volume of oil upwardly bycapillary action through a unit length of wick to a combustion flame ismuch longer for a conventional multi-ply asbestos paper wick than forwoven asbestos or glass fabric wicks.

Objects of the present invention are to provide a Wick for oil stoveswhich is economical and eflicient and which can be manufactured andtransported as a flat sheet and readily shipped and inserted in anannular wick holder Without tearing or fraying.

With the above objects in view, the invention consists in the improvedoil stove burner Wick which is hereinafter described and moreparticularly defined by the accompanying claims.

In the following description reference will be made to the attacheddrawing. in which:

Fig. l is a perspective View of a three ply asbestos paper Wick in ilatsheet form, with the individual plies stapled togetherr at one end andspread apart at the other end to show the flexible paper sheets;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken on line 3-3 of Fig. 1; and

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the wick of Fig. 1 after being curved totubular shape to conform to an annular wick holder.

Multi-ply asbestos paper laminate wicks, in accordance with the presentinvention. preferably incorporate-at least one inner core ply ofasbestos paper having a high capillarity for oil and having ahighlresistance against disintegration or carbonizing when installed andoperated for long periods in a blue flame oil stove. Essentially, the

ply paper of the indicated desirable properties shouldincorporate as itsmajor constituent asbestos fibers of -the amphibole group includingamosite, tremolite, anthophyllite or crocidolite. Such amphibole fibersshould be well cleaned and should have a size classification accordingto the Standard Quebec wet screen test of approximately 11 ounces out ofa 16 ounce sample retained on a 10 mesh screen, and 5 ounces passedthrough a 10 mesh screen. In the preferred wick construction the twoouter plies are preferably made up of conventional chrysotile ber paper,for the reason that this paper is stronger and denser and provides aheat insulating shell of low capillarity for oil by means of which thecore of the wick is shielded and insulated from the hot metal walls ofthe wick holder. Wicks of morethan three ply are frequently desirablefor higher capacity units, and there may be several inner or core pliesof amphibole asbestos ber paper.

'I'he particular Wick constructure which is illustrated in the drawingis a three ply laminate sheet l0 of which the central or core ply I2comprises an oil absorbent, amosite fiber paper having a thickness of.O20-.040 inch and weighing 510 lbs. per 100 sq. ft. In manufacturingthe paper constituting theycore and outer plies of the wick, it isadvantageous to incorporate in the fiber furnish about 3% of'`l itsweight of abinder such as oxidized starch gum or calcium silicate. Theouter plies I4 of the-\wick are preferably conventional asbestos paperAof about .02 inch thickness and weighing about 81bs. per 100 sq. ft.

In manufacturing the wicks, the outer and inner plies of asbestos paperarepreferably assembled in fiat sheet form, and are shipped and storedin this form. The individual sheets may be assembled into the laminatewick structure and attached by spot gluing or by stitching or by beadsof sodium silicate. The preferred method of attaching the sheetstogether is by means of one metal staple I8 disposed at one end of thewick parallel to a shortI edge thereof, in such a Way as to hold theindividual sheets of the laminate structure together without`interference with the operations of shaping thewick and of inserting thewick in the annular wick holder.

Comparative tests of the capillarity and of the operating eiliciency ofa three ply asbestos paper laminate wick having an amphibole paper core,in comparison with conventional woven asbestos fabric wicks and withconventional three ply crysotile asbestos paper laminate wicks, havedemonstrated that the amphibole paper core wick oi the present inventionhas an initial capillarity for oil at least double that of the wovenasbestos fabric wick, and much greater than the capillarity of aconventional tin-cc ply crysotile paper laminate wick. When a wick of11" x 1% dimensions consisting of a core I2 of amosite ber paper of 0.35inch thickness, clamped between two outer sheets ld of conventionalchysotile paper of .02 inch thickness, was inserted in the wick holdof astove and immersed about of an inch in the oil reservoir. its capillaryaction was found to be such that it could be initially ignited withinabout 30 seconds. Under the same test conditions a woven asbestos wickrequired about 70 seconds for initial ignition. The amosite paper corewick of the present invention will continue to feed fuel after ignitionwith an even blue flame. whereas it frequently requires at least hour ofoperation to attain an even blue name combustion when using a wovenasbestos wick,

or when using a conventional three ply crysotile asbestos paper wick.

A three ply amosite paper core wick such as herein described has beenfound to operate satisfactorily over an operating life of 500 hours in aburner developing an even blue ame. At the end of this 500 hour testperiod the wick still retains ample mechanical strength to withstandnormal handling, including removal and reinsertion in the annular wickholder. Conventional I multi-ply asbestos paper wicks do notpossess thislong operating life, and are very much lower in their operatingefficiency. An improved multiply amphibole paper wick such as hereindescribed will exhibit a heat developingr eillciency at least However,because of their relatively high efficiency over operating periods oi300 to 400 hours, they are much more economical than conventional oilburner wicks now available. including conventional woven asbestos andglass fabric wicks.

Since many variations may be made from the illustrative details given,without departing from the scope of the invention, it is intended thatthe invention should be limited only by the terms of the claimsinterpreted as broadly as consistent with novelty over the prior art;

What I claim is:

l. A wick for oil stoves comprising a multi-ply asbestos paper laminateat least one inner core ply of which comprises a sheet of amphibole berpaper of .O20-.040 inch thickness and having a weight of 5-10 lbs. per100 sq. ft.

2. A wick for oil stoves comprising a multi-ply asbestos paper laminatehaving at least one inner core ply of greater thickness than the outerplies and which consists chiefly of amphibole asbestos bers.

3. A wick for oil stoves, comprising a multi-ply asbestospaper laminate,at least one inner core ply of which comprises a sheet of amosite fiberpaper of .O20-.040 inch thickness having a weight of 5-10 lbs. per 100sq. ft., said amosite paper core being lightly sized with about 3% byweight of oxidized starch gum.

4. A wick for oil stoves as defined in claim 2 in which the outer pliescomprise chrysotile asbestos paper of greater density than that of thecore ply.

5. A wick for oil stoves as defined in claim 2 in which the wick pliesare fastened together by a single metal staple adjacent to andparalleling a. short edge of the wick.

6. A wick for oil stoves comprising a multi-ply asbestos paper laminatehaving at least one inner core ply which consists chiey of amphiboleasbestos bers.

7. A wick for oil stoves comprising a multi-ply asbestos paper laminatehaving at least one inner core ply which consists chiefly of amositeasbestos bers.

ROBERT G. QUINN.

